EPDF and EPUB available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. This book is concerned with the effects of migration policy-making in Europe on migrants in the Global South and challenges current migration politics to consider alternative ways of looking at the modern migratory phenomenon. Based on in-depth ethnographic research in Morocco with migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa, the author considers current migration dynamics from the perspectives of migrants themselves to examine the long-term social effects of immobility experienced by migrants whom get stuck in ‘transit’ countries. This book is an invaluable learning resource for those wishing to understand the social and political processes that migration policies lead to, particularly in countries in the Global South.

The study of international migration and ethnic relations is rapidly expanding in the social sciences, in the humanities, and in law and medicine at universities around the world. Theories and methods are borrowed from many disciplines, but with little cross-fertilization, thereby leaving many core issues out. This authoritative book fills a gap by providing an expertly integrated overview of international migration from a wide range of disciplinary perspectives. Throughout the book, South to North migration is used as the main example.The authors, leading experts in their fields, ask provocative new questions such as the counterfactual, `Why do people not migrate?' and address old questions in fresh ways in a language accessible for students in a range of disciplines. Does migration from less developed countries stimulate or obstruct development? Does development reduce or increase the flows of migration? What are the dynamics of a migration process? Geography, economics, political science, social anthropology and sociology all inform this book, which is certain to become an established text in migration studies.

The study of international migration and ethnic relations is rapidly expanding in the social sciences, in the humanities, and in law and medicine at universities around the world. Theories and methods are borrowed from many disciplines, but with little cross-fertilization, thereby leaving many core issues out. This authoritative book fills a gap by providing an expertly integrated overview of international migration from a wide range of disciplinary perspectives. Throughout the book, South to North migration is used as the main example.The authors, leading experts in their fields, ask provocative new questions such as the counterfactual, `Why do people not migrate?' and address old questions in fresh ways in a language accessible for students in a range of disciplines. Does migration from less developed countries stimulate or obstruct development? Does development reduce or increase the flows of migration? What are the dynamics of a migration process? Geography, economics, political science, social anthropology and sociology all inform this book, which is certain to become an established text in migration studies.

A free open access ebook is available upon publication. Learn more at www.luminosoa.org. Tens of thousands of Eritreans make perilous voyages across Africa and the Mediterranean Sea every year. Why do they risk their lives to reach European countries where so many more hardships await them? By visiting family homes in Eritrea and living with refugees in camps and urban peripheries across Ethiopia, Sudan, and Italy, Milena Belloni untangles the reasons behind one of the most under-researched refugee populations today. Balancing encounters with refugees and their families, smugglers, and visa officers, The Big Gamble contributes to ongoing debates about blurred boundaries between forced and voluntary migration, the complications of transnational marriages, the social matrix of smuggling, and the role of family expectations, emotions, and values in migrants’ choices of destinations.

The last twenty years have seen a rapid increase in scholarly activity and publications dedicated to environmental migration and displacement, and the field has now reached a point in terms of profile, complexity, and sheer volume of reporting that a general review and assessment of existing knowledge and future research priorities is warranted. So far, such a product does not exist. The Routledge Handbook of Environmental Displacement and Migration provides a state-of-the-science review of research on how environmental variability and change influence current and future global migration patterns and, in some instances, trigger large-scale population displacements. Drawing together contributions from leading researchers in the field, this compendium will become a go-to guide for established and newly interested scholars, for government and policymaking entities, and for students and their instructors. It explains theoretical, conceptual, and empirical developments that have been made in recent years; describes their origins and connections to broader topics including migration research, development studies, and international public policy and law; and highlights emerging areas where new and/or additional research and reflection are warranted. The structure and the nature of the book allow the reader to quickly find a concise review relevant to conducting research or developing policy on particular topics, and to obtain a broad, reliable survey of what is presently known about the subject.

The first in-depth exploration of the persistence and pervasiveness of a dangerous legal fiction about people who cross borders: the binary distinction between migrant and refugee. Today, the concept of "the refugee" as distinct from other migrants looms large. Immigration laws have developed to reinforce a conceptual dichotomy between those viewed as voluntary, often economically motivated, migrants who can be legitimately excluded by potential host states, and those viewed as forced, often politically motivated, refugees who should be let in. In Crossing, Rebecca Hamlin argues against advocacy positions that cling to this distinction. Everything we know about people who decide to move suggests that border crossing is far more complicated than any binary, or even a continuum, can encompass. The decision to leave home is almost always multi-causal and often involves many stops and hazards along the way--a reality not captured by a system that categorizes a majority of border-crossers as undeserving, and the rare few as vulnerable and needy. Drawing on cases of various "border crises" across Europe, North America, South America, and the Middle East, Hamlin outlines major inconsistencies and faulty assumptions upon which the binary relies, and explains its endurance and appeal by tracing its origins to the birth of the modern state and the rise of colonial empire. The migrant/refugee binary is not just an innocuous shorthand, indeed its power stems from the way in which is it painted as objective, neutral, and apolitical. In truth, the binary is a dangerous legal fiction, politically constructed with the ultimate goal of making harsh border control measures more ethically palatable to the public. This book is a challenge to all those invested in the rights and study of migrants, to interrogate their own assumptions and move towards more equitable advocacy for all border crossers.

The crossing of national state borders is one of the most-discussed issues of contemporary times and it poses many challenges for individual and collective identities. This concerns both short-distance mobility as well as long-distance migration. Choosing to move - or not - across international borders is a complex decision, involving both cognitive and emotional processes. This book tests the approach that three crucial thresholds need to be crossed before mobility occurs; the individual’s mindset about migrating, the choice of destination and perception of crossing borders to that location and the specific routes and spatial trajectories available to get there. Thus both borders and trajectories can act as thresholds to spatial moves. The threshold approach, with its focus on processes affecting whether, when and where to move, aims to understand the decision-making process in all its dimensions, in the hope that this will lead to a better understanding of the ways migrants conceive, perceive and undertake their transnational journeys. This book examines the three constitutive parts discerned in the cross-border mobility decision-making process: people, borders and trajectories and their interrelationships. Illustrated by a global range of case studies, it demonstrates that the relation between the three is not fixed but flexible and that decision-making contains aspects of belonging, instability, security and volatility affecting their mobility or immobility.